King of the Rings part 1
by burtonfan422
Summary: So this evolved from an idea I had of the Loud kids dressed as characters from 'Lord of the Rings.' Then I remembered there's an episode where Lincoln's revealed to be a big fan of a film entitled 'King of the Rings.' Doesn't take a genius to see that's a parody. So I wondered what those characters would be like, and I always enjoyed putting characters I like in unusual situations.
1. It begins

The Loud children all gathered together in the living room. Lincoln could hardly believe his luck that his sisters were all willing to watch one of his favorite fantasy films, _King of the Rings_ , with him. The last time they were willing to do this was when he had invited his best friend Clyde over for a sleepover.

"I'm glad you guys are willing to watch this with me, I'm not complaining but can ask what it is that made you want to watch it again?" he asked.

"Well, to be honest, we were having discussions about it from last time, but we had difficulty understanding certain parts so we just thought maybe by watching the film a second time might help," answered Lori.

"Lana and I really liked those battle scenes," laughed Lynn, giving her younger sister a high five.

"They say second time's the ticket, third time's the charm! But then again, there might not be a third time!" joked Luan. Lily was the only one who laughed. Lincoln made ready to pop the film in and he looked back at his sisters and noticed that something was not quite right.

"Uh guys, where's Lucy?" he asked nervously knowing that the little Goth girl could pop out of nowhere at any second giving them close to a heart attack.

"I'm right here," said a rather melancholic voice. Everyone jumped a few centimeters out of their skins and saw Lucy holding what looked like a feathery dream catcher with various silver pieces stuck sewn in it.

"Uh Luce, I know I'm likely to regret the answer but what exactly is that in your hand?" asked Luna.

"According to legend, this talisman can take you into another world by uttering certain phrases, but I dare not say them," Lucy answered.

"Do you perchance have those phrases written down shomewhere?" asked Lisa.

"I do, and I guess I could let you read them," Lucy replied handing her little sister a piece of paper. Lisa very gently took the piece of paper and then with a quick movement of her hand snatched the talisman Lucy was still holding as the main menu button appeared on the screen.

"Let me shee here. 'Naruda!' 'Oddmentium!' 'Frittertwitted!' 'Nonsensical!" she chanted right about when Lincoln pushed the play button.

"Oh no Lisa! Now you're going to be transported to another world!" cried Leni.

"Wrong! I wash proving that thish is jusht a bit of hocus pocus that one can find at a garage shale and that Lucy, as alwaysh was trying to terrify ush!" the little genius girl laughed.

"Uh, why do I suddenly feel lightheaded?" complained Lola.

"Do you need to lie down?" asked Lori.

"No wait, I suddenly feel lightheaded too," said Lincoln. Then all of a sudden, everyone was complaining about feeling lightheaded except for Leni and of course Lily, when they then found themselves not inside their living room. Moreover, they were not wearing their pajamas but looked almost as if they were traveling to a Renaissance fair. Some of their physical features were altered as well.

"Uh, why is it suddenly so dark? Did the power go out again?" asked Luan. She was now wearing dark yellow clothes, an almost maroon traveling cloak and carrying a staff. But what really stood out was that she had a blindfold on.

"Oh, hold still Luan, let me just get that blindfold off for you," offered Leni. She now wore ankle length robes of mint green and had what looked like a white headband tied around her forehead. But what concerned everyone watching her was that she now had pointy ears. She gently lifted the blindfold off of Luan but everyone gasped to see what was beneath the blindfold.

"What is everyone scared about, and you can remove that blindfold anytime now Leni," asked a rather confused Luan. Her normally bright, sparkling eyes were now clouded over with dull white. She was blind!

"Looks like darkness is now your friend!" said Luna, trying to lighten the situation the way Luan would. Luna was now dressed in a purplish jerkin, black tights and two swords hung upon her black leather belt. She, as usual was holding Lily who was wrapped in a rather simple blanket.

"Guys, I almost hate to admit it, but something tells me that whatever Lucy had was no joke, I think we have been transported into the world of the movie, and we are now taking the place of the normal characters!" said an alarmed Lincoln. He also had pointy ears, his orange shirt now appearing more medieval. He had brown leggings and a green traveling cloak. But most distinguishing of all, a sword hung upon his side.

"Well that is just dandy! Lucy! You had better be able to get us back home!" screamed a very angry Lori. She was dressed in dark blue traveling clothes that appeared to have seen better days, and was carrying a quiver of bow and arrows. She, like Lincoln and Leni had pointy ears.

"I'll see what I can do," replied Lucy. She out of the entire group was easily the most transformed. Her normally pale skin had turned a light grey. Her teeth were sharp. She had a brown leather outfit on that appeared to have been crudely stitched together. She had a brown cap that covered most of her head, but her dark hair still made it impossible to really look into her eyes. Upon her back she carried two small axes and on her belt was a small knife with a silver skull carved on the handle.

Lisa willingly handed her the paper and unusual talisman. She did not appear guilty or ashamed. She just seemed upset that magic had somehow won over science. She almost looked the same as ever, although her clothes now looked like she had been trying to dress up as a pirate. With the exception of a purple hat that stood about six inches that now rested on her head, and a backpack she was now carrying. Lucy looked over the paper carefully. If they could have seen her eyes, they might have guessed that she was unnerved.

"My dearest siblings, I might have bad news. It says that in order to return to the world you were before, ye must first face a challenge the new sets to thee," she read.

"What does that even mean?" asked a horrified Leni. She had placed the blindfold back on Luan; she didn't want to look at her normally cheerful sister's milky eyes.

"I almost hate to say it, but I think it's saying that we might actually have to live out the storyline of the movie before we can think about going home," answered Lincoln.

"Does that mean we get to participate in all those battle?" asked Lana excitedly. She was wearing what could easily have been a woolen vest, breeches, and a green shirt. But the most unusual bit of garment she now wore was some kind of medallion with stars on it around her neck.

"If it's a fight this place wants I'll be ready for it!" added Lynn. She wore red leather armor and a gray helmet. Like Lucy she also had a pair of axes on her back.

"Mom and Dad are not going to appreciate this," said Lola. Her tiara was gone but she still wore a dark pink robe and carried what appeared to be a golden scepter.

"Right now, our main priority is to get home, then we'll see how Mom and Dad feel about this," said Lori, still trying to remain in charge.

"If I could just have everyone's attention!" shouted Lincoln from on top of a large rock. The girls turned around to listen to their brother.

"Alright, I've scouted a little bit of the surrounding, so the bad news is I was right, we are in the world of _"The King of the Rings._ " The good news is that I've seen this movie enough times that I know the lay of the land and its people. Moreover, judging by all of your costumes, my theory that we are now the characters of this movie is proved accurate. Even though most of them are in fact men. Luan, you have taken the place of Kento, the blind warrior monk. Lori, you are Shelda, an elven archer. Leni, your character is Pinta, she's an elf noble who joins this quest to act as an ambassador. Luna, you're Amelda, an excellent swordfighter. Lynn you are now in the place of Hogart, a dwarf who enjoys nothing more than a good fight and red meat. Lucy, you have taken the place of Slashclaw a goblin that chooses to abandon the ways of evil and turn a new leaf. Lola, you are now Cristal, a wingless fairy with great light magic. Lana, you have now taken the place of Yoshka, you can transform into almost any animal. Lisa, you are simply Pip, a gnome wizard. Me, I guess I'm just Dan, a Halfling trying to make something of himself. Lily's just Lily I'm afraid," he told them.

Suddenly, there was a rustling sound, the siblings looked around and saw a man with red robes and pointy ears come towards them.

"Ah travelers, we were beginning to lose hope, come, there is much to be discussed of your upcoming quest," he said. Lincoln jumped down from the rock and whispered something to Lori. She nodded in some kind of agreement.

"Thank you, we will follow you with glad hearts," Lincoln replied. The elf led them away from the clearing to wherever this discussion was going to take place.

"Uh you better not _leaf_ me behind! Get it, because we're in the woods! Or at least I hope we are!" cried Luan. Leni took her wrist and wordlessly led her.

They were all introduced to a regal looking elf named Griffond. He took them into a room with a large table with a few other elves that he said were his closest lieutenants. They showed the siblings a series of maps and paintings. Griffond even told them a story.

"Many years ago, there were three rings of immense power. One of them was lost in the Forgotten Mines. A group of dwarves made it their mission to look for that particular ring, but tragically nothing has been heard from them recently. Now the other two have been accounted for, unfortunately, they are as of fairly recently out of the hands of good," Griffond told them.

"One is held by Duke Marubend, a truly great swordsman. (Here, Griffond looked upon Luna with slightly uneasy eyes.) The other is now in the custody of King Cypress. The two of them are in league and intend to combine their power to enslave this land in their evil," he continued.

"Uh okay, how exactly do we fit into all of this?" asked Leni. Lori elbowed her and gave her an angry glare. Griffond suddenly looked taken aback.

"Have you already forgotten? You were the ones who volunteered to go on this mission when word was sent out amongst the rebels. Has something changed?" asked Griffond.

"Nothing has changed, but there might be some complications to the original plan. Might we have this room to ourselves? Just so we can talk about this further? You know, in private?" Lincoln replied, trying to sound confident. Griffond nodded and with a single wave of his hands his lieutenants followed him. Now the Loud children were by themselves.

"Okay Lincoln, this is something you know all about, this is sort of your world, and you know all the details of the story. We look to your leadership," said Lori.

"Well, we already agreed that the best way to get home was to act out that movie," said Lucy.

"Right, but I'm not going to make anyone do something they'd rather not do. I will warn you all, this is not going to be easy, might even be dangerous," Lincoln replied.

"I laugh in the face of danger!" Lynn and Lana shouted at the same time.

"We will play your game," said Lisa.

"Alright, but there something I need to tell one of you in particular," said Lincoln, here he turned to look Luna in the eye. Suddenly everyone's eyes were upon her. Her eyes shot around the room.

"Uh dudes, why's everyone lookin' at me?" she asked.

"Luna, there's a reason Griffond looked at you when he told us about Duke Marubend, see in the mythos of this story, your character was something of a protégé to him before he became evil," Lincoln told her. Everyone gasped.

"Twisted!" she replied. Lincoln then went over to the door, knocked three times and they were rejoined by the elves.

"Alright, we are ready for the quest whenever you are ready to send us out upon it," he told them.

"Wonderful! I am glad that nothing has changed, I hope the complication has been resolved," said Griffond, then he looked upon Lily who was still squirming around in Luna's arms.

"Oh, I must apologize, it might not be wise to take one so small on this adventure. Might I offer you the chance to leave her here? We have nursemaids that will look after her, care for her, nurture her until you return. If return you can," he suggested.

"Leave Lily here?" asked Lori in a surprised tone.

"No, he's probably right. It wouldn't be right to take Lily on this sort of quest; she'd be much safer here. After all Linc here said it'd be dangerous," replied Lynn. If Griffond noticed a change in the name of Lincoln's character, he neither said nor showed any of it.

"All right, we'll leave Lily here, it's probably better anyway," agreed Lori.

"Uh, come to think of it, maybe I should stay-ouch!" Luan said before Lola stepped on her foot in order to shut her up.

"Dear Luan, why would you want to stay? It is said that without your sense of sight, your other senses became so great you can hear a foe step on a twig. In addition you once took on five goblins by yourself, using their movement against them. Besides, you were told that on this quest your sight might be restored," asked a confused Griffond. Everyone was surprised to hear him say Luan's true name. They expected him to call her by her character's name.

"Maybe it's best that we get referred to by our true names, prevent confusion for us, heaven knows what the gender bending we caused did to this film, thanks to Lucy's talisman," Leni whispered to Lori.

"Forgive her Master Elf, she's just a little nervous being around a group of people she's never had a chance to know before," said Lincoln, trying to make up a decent excuse.

During the week leading to their departure, Lincoln had convinced some of their elven hosts to give them some crash courses on how to fight and use certain forms of magic. Saying they all just wanted to get some practice in so it wouldn't appear suspicious. Lisa found leather water bottles filled with various types of potions in her backpack. Thanks to her chemistry experience, she had a good grip on using them. Lynn was already good on using her axes, being a black belt and having used a wide variety of sports equipment. Lana even got to practice her ability to change into animals, which she loved to pieces.

When the day came to make their departure, they were proudly packed with proper provisions and camping equipment provided to them by the elves. Leni had gladly accepted some bow and arrows that she now carried on her back. They all kissed Lily goodbye, promising to be back.

"Good luck adventurers, and remember, none of you are bound by any oath to go further than ye would desire. But your ventures will surely be worthy of a few songs at the least," said Griffond. So then they were off, Luna holding onto Luan's hand. Once they were out of sight of the elves, Lincoln tied a rope connecting Luan and Lana's belts together.

"If I had done that while we were still there, they would've been suspicious. Lana, congratulations, you are going to be Luan's eyes unless we come across a foe then you at the least will need full flexibility," he explained.


	2. Forgotten Mines

They walked a good long while. Granted while they knew that the end of their hike might not be an overall pleasant destination, the views they were able to take in during that time were quite nice actually. The mountains, the rivers and the trees, not much could have truly dampened their spirits. Except for Luan making occasional sightless jokes.

At one point, they decided to pitch camp amongst some rocks. Lola used some of her magic to start a fire so they could cook their meal. Luan was untied from Lana so she could just be sat down on a rock while Lana experimented further with her shape-shifting abilities. She eventually settled on a badger and decided to curl up on her blind sister's lap.

"Ah, there's a nice kitty," joked Luan cooingly, gently petting her little sister. Nobody bothered to correct her; it would've just broken her heart. While this was going on Lincoln was helping Luna improve her sword fighting technique by sparring with her. Lynn decided to take some time to show Lucy some fighting moves with her axes. Lori and Lisa discussed the route ahead.

"Well, Lincoln shaid we'd have to travel through these Forgotten Mines. I guessh that's our deshtinashun," said Lisa.

"I don't know Lisa, something about the name bothers me, and Griffond said those dwarves who had gone in there hadn't really been heard from in a while, but Lincoln is the essential expert on this world. We'll just have to wait and see what he decides," answered Lori.

"Hey, that rain cloud is moving rather fast," said Leni who had been keeping a lookout. Everybody, including Lana who was still in badger form, looked up to see what Leni was talking about.

"Well, you'd all be able to see better than I can!" laughed Luan.

"Everybody hide!" Lincoln ordered. The fire was stamped out and everybody found someplace such as a rock overhang or bushes to hide under. Lynn and Lucy took it upon themselves to help Luan get under a bush with them. Luna and Lana found a hollowed out tree stump that they could share. Through the various small cracks in the bushes or just by peeking out from under the rocks, they could see that it was no cloud that passed over them; it was a flock of birds.

"There are some of our enemies in this world who use birds such as those as spies, I didn't want to risk us being spotted," Lincoln explained once the flock had passed and everyone emerged from hiding.

"Shall we find another place for camp?" asked Lori. Lincoln nodded grimly.

They eventually came to a grim looking lake at a cliff side. There was a rather large tree nearby, but it looked as though it had died years ago and was simply left to rot.

"Unfortunately, we have to wait until nightfall to use the door, but I guess this will make a decent campsite, it's not as cheery as our previous site, but at least spies won't be able to find us this low in the mountains," said Lincoln. So they all decided to make a camp and cook up some supper.

"Sorry Luan, but I really gotta pee. You're just gonna hafta wait here," said Lana as she untied the rope connecting the two of them before turning into a dog and running off somewhere out of sight.

"Don't go too far Lana!" warned Lori.

"Someone warn me if I'm about to sit on a prickly bush," said Luan.

"You're not," said Lori irritably.

"Now, you're not trying to get revenge on all those whoopee cushion jokes I've pulled on you, are you?" asked Luan, testing the ground with her staff before deciding to sit down. Leni meanwhile couldn't take her eyes off the lake.

"I don't think we're going to see a merman emerge out of there," said Lola.

"It's not that, something about that water makes me uneasy," Leni replied.

"Oh yeah, that's another thing, everybody stay away from the water, there's something living in there," warned Lincoln. Leni and Lola backed up from the lake. Lana then strutted back into the campsite and then turned back into her human self, looking quite relieved. By the time they had a decent supper, night had fallen and a doorway appeared lit up in the moonlight.

"This is why we had to wait until nightfall?" asked Leni.

"Yes, tragically the doorway won't appear in daylight, now if you will all stand back please; _mellon_!" said Lincoln. Suddenly the doorway opened up to them.

"Somebody please tell me what's going on!" said Luan standing back up; Lisa grabbed her hand so as to lead her to the doorway.

"You speak friend in the elven language, and the doors open to you. They were designed in happier times," answered Lincoln. Everyone looked inside cautiously. It was dark, and even in the pale moonlight they could see the signs of a long forgotten battle at the entrance. Skeletons with cobwebs and armor littered the place.

"Looks like my kind of neighborhood," replied Lucy.

"Eeew. I don't wanna go in there!" screeched Lola.

"We have to! Now the characters in the movie had to go in relying on pure luck to find the ring, but luckily, I know the script so that gives us an advantage!" Lincoln said angrily.

"But it's so gross!" said Lola with disgust.

"Yeah! That's part of the cool factor!" replied Lana excitedly.

"Look, if any of you don't want to go in, there's the path back to the elven city! You can go back there and wait with Lily! But I can guarantee you'll be bored out of your mind!" warned Lincoln. Suddenly, a giant tentacle emerged out of the water and grabbed Lola around the ankle! She screamed as more tentacles emerged out of the water. She clawed at the ground with her fingers and scepter. Lana grabbed her twin's wrists and pulled with as much force as she could. But even the tough six-year-old girl who wrestled alligators could only do so much!

Luna and Lynn ran over with their weapons drawn and started to hack away at the tentacle that was wrapped around their sister's ankle. Working together it didn't take much time to sever Lola free. Luna sheathed her swords as quickly as she could and practically dragged the twins away. Lynn clearly wanted to stand and fight as she continued slicing the tentacles that were trying to close in on her.

"Lynn! Get out of there now!" yelled Lori as she let an arrow loose. Lynn rolled out of the way and ran straight to the doorway. They all managed to make it in before the creature caused an avalanche to permanently seal the doorway forever. Lola used her scepter to create some light.

"Well, it looks like we all have one choice now, we must all go through the mines," said Lincoln.

"Lola over here! I think I might have an illumination potion in my backpack!" hissed Lisa. Lola walked over to her little sister who pulled out one of her leather flasks, grabbed a nearby dagger from a skeleton and poured a few drops on it. The dagger glowed.

"There, a little extra light! We need it in thish darknessh!" she said.

"Not that I'd be able to tell the difference!" replied Luan.

"Luan, not helping! Okay, since we have two light sources, I suggest we have the bearers stand at opposite ends of our line. Lola, as a reward for alerting that creature, and complaining earlier, you can take the lead!" said Lori. Lola nodded solemnly.

"Right, Lynn, Lucy and myself will be next, Lana, you and Luan will have to be in the middle, we have to make sure our blind warrior doesn't go wandering off! Lori, you'll be right behind Luan. The rest of you take the rear!" Lincoln gave further orders as he once again tied Lana and Luan together. So they started to walk again with Lola in the lead. Leni decided to rest Lisa on her free shoulder and walk with her and her light in the back.

"Don't worry little sis, I won't let you fall," she told her. Lisa just smiled, she normally wasn't one for piggybacks, but she decided that it wouldn't be too bad in this situation. Then Luna started singing.

 _"Hello darkness my old friend,_

 _I've come to talk with you again."_

"Luna, now's not the time, right now we have to hope and maybe even pray that our presence here goes unnoticed," said Lori angrily in a stage whisper. So they walked on in silence. That is until they came to a very narrow path. On one side was a stonewall suggesting that the path may have been carved from it. But on the other side, was a deep chasm.

"Uh, I don't do heights that well!" said an alarmed Lana who ran behind Luan and then turned into a lizard so she could crawl into one of her backpack's pockets. Lincoln shrugged and picked up Lana's backpack and placed it on his chest so he could carry it along with his own backpack.

"Wait! You're supposed to be my eyes! I can't do heights either! I'm not this awesome blind warrior who can detect insects with hearing! I'm liable to fall!" said Luan hysterically. Tears were beginning to stream down her face. Then she felt a gentle hand take hers. She didn't need a voice or her actual sight to figure out who the owner was. She had held it many times.

"Luan, listen, it's going to be okay. I'm going to be right in front of you, and Lori's going to behind you. I promise we won't let you fall," said Lincoln.

"O-okay, but Lincoln, please don't let go of my hand," she said. They started walking again. Luan remembered how when Lincoln was about four, he used to hold her hand whenever they crossed the street. It seemed as though the roles had switched.

"We're just going to take this one step at a time," said Luna encouragingly. Leni tightened her grip on little Lisa. Once in a while, they would look down. But they tried not to think about what laid down below. They thought they could hear the distant sound of an underground river.

"Hey Link, I can't but worry about Lily, y'think she's all right with elves?" asked Luna.

"Is she alright with the elves? Think about it; Lily's probably being pampered, tucked into a nice warm bed and sung to while we're stuck in the dark!" answered Lola bitterly.

"Everybody shut up and don't move!" Luan hissed. Almost as if her voice was lightning striking them, everybody froze. They could suddenly sense some distant rumbling through the stone. Once it passed, they decided it was safe to move again.

"What wuz that?" asked a bewildered Lisa.

"According to legend, somewhere very deep in the mines lives a giant serpent, if that's the case then let's hope we don't actually come face to face with it," answered Lincoln.

"I take back what I said about Lily, I'm worried about us," said Luna, a guilty smile on her face. They kept walking, managing to get past the chasm without any further incident. Lincoln made sure Lana got back in her human form and made her take her backpack back. They eventually came to a room with a well.

"Well, I think we've had enough excitement, this might make a safe place for us to camp, nobody even think about dropping a stone in that well," said Lincoln.

"Hey Lana, could you turn into a bear, help me move this statue?" asked Lynn. Lana nodded, untying herself from Luan and after turning into a bear, she helped Lynn lift a nearby fallen statue and with Lynn guiding, they used it to cover the well up.

"Uh, what exactly was the purpose of that?" asked Leni.

"One, to prevent temptation of anyone going against Lincoln's instructions; Two, to prevent anything from crawling out of there. Three, a blind individual walking around with a huge hole in the floor is not a safe idea," answered Lynn brushing dirt off her hands while Lana changed into a dog and just curled up in front of the statue and seemingly fell asleep.

"I'll take the first watch, I'm used to trying to pierce through the darkness," volunteered Lucy.

"Thank you Lucy, everyone else try to get some sleep. I'm sorry but we can't have a fire in here right now. Can't risk drawing attention to us in this place," said Lincoln as he gathered up his blanket and got as comfortable as possible. Everyone decided to follow suit.

The next day, or what they could come close to assuming would be a decent amount of sleep they were off again. No chasms to fear now, they were in an enclosed tunnel, which somehow felt safer. Then they came upon a room with more skeletons, more victims of a long-fought battle. Lincoln walked over to one who held a rather large book in some death grip.

"I am really sorry about this buddy," he told the skeleton. He was about to pull the book out of the individual's death grip when Lucy stopped him.

"If anyone is going to be removing something from a dead guy, it's going to be me," she said. Lincoln nodded sheepishly and stepped back. Lucy pulled the book ever so gently from the skeleton's hands and then laid it upon a nearby pedestal.

"Okay, what exactly do we need this book for?" asked Lori nervously.

"I'm about to show you," answered Lincoln. He opened the book, and they found that the book had a hole right in the middle of it as though the owner was trying to hide something important in it. Inside the hole was a box. Lincoln gently lifted the box and quietly opened it. All of his sisters held their breath as they watched him. Then he showed what was in that box; a ring.

"Yes, this is exactly what we came down for. In the movie one of us (I'm not saying who) noticed that skeleton would've been the leader of this Dwarven colony and was curious as to why he'd be trying to guard a book to the death," Lincoln told them. He then fished around in his knapsack and pulled out a small chain. He carefully threaded the chain through the ring and then bid Lucy to come over to him.

"Lucy, considering you were the one who chose to retrieve the book, and nobody's going to want to search you, I think you shall bear this ring," he told her as he wrapped the chain around her neck like a necklace.

"I will guard it carefully, now, what do we do about the bodies?" she asked, pointing at the skeletons.

"Just leave them, they're already buried," said Leni with a shudder.

"Lincoln, I don't wanna stay here," said Lola, grabbing her brother's arm, tears forming in her eyes.

"We are leaving now little one," he told her, gently petting his sister's hair.

Then all of a sudden, they heard strange music.

 _Down, down below my lad,_

 _Where ye'll ne'er be found!_

 _Down in goblin town!_

"How did they find us?" screeched Leni.

"Doesn't matter now! Quick! Bar the door we just came in through! We mustn't get trapped in here!" ordered Lincoln. Lori and Luna quickly closed the heavy doors and started picking up pikes, large axes and spears to help seal the door.

"Y'know, that's not the best-"Lisa started to explain but Lynn cut her off.

"Doesn't matter, it just has to be good enough for us to get ready!" she said.

"Ready for what?" asked Lola nervously.

"Why to fight of course! We can take'em!" said Lynn excitedly. Everyone looked at her surprised.

"Lynn, you remember I can't see, right?" asked Luan, not bothering to hide her fear.

"C'mon we're the Loud kids! Lana, you wrestle alligators for fun! Lucy, you could scare the bejeezus out of Freddy Krueger! Lola, Leni, Lori, I've seen you fight for shoes at the mall! Lisa, you come up with a solution to any problem! Lincoln, you and Clyde play swordfight and with some of those missions you've created you know how to fight in this scenario! Luna, you once arm-wrestled a truck driver for the last Aerosmith album at the store and won! Luan, I've seen your knife-throwing skills!" Lynn preached.

"I'm blind!" Luan reminded her. Lola handed her a shield and then got on her back.

"Here just hold this shield, and I'll be your eyes! I'll just tell which direction to face so I can blast our foes!" she offered. Luan nodded, even dropping her staff and just holding onto her new shield for dear life while Lola held her scepter like she was going to start shooting. Lori and Leni notched an arrow each in their bows. Lisa drank some kind of potion. Lincoln used his blade to cut Lana from Luan allowing her to turn into a bear. Everyone else took her weapons out, ready for battle.

"Welcome to the jungle baby," said Luna, licking her lips. The doors were being banged upon heavily until finally they gave way and a score of goblins poured in. Lisa revealed that the potion she drank allowed her to breathe fire. Not by saying it of course, she just hit the goblins hard. Lynn and Lana acted as though they were having the time of their lives taking on those goblins. Lola kept shouting left and right while poor Luan just had difficulty keeping up. Luna started to attempt using some of her dance moves in the fight.

Lisa made some kind of motion to tell Lana to throw her up in the air. Lana did without question then continued swiping at two goblins that were trying to get at her. Lisa breathed her best fiery breath right above the doorway causing what looked like a large bell to fall down, sealing the doorway and making it difficult for any more foes to come in. That caused everyone, even the goblins to stop fighting stupefied, until Lana caught her younger sister. Then Lynn, Lincoln and Lucy in some weird rage of fury took the last few out.

"Now's the only chance we're going to get! We must run for it! Leni, grab Luan's arm and help her! Lynn, lead the way for us!" Lincoln ordered. Lola slid off Luan's back and ran right after Lynn. Leni grabbed Luan by the wrist and ran with her, almost dragging her.

"Wait! My staff!" Luan shouted; she hadn't even let go of her shield.

"Forget it sis! We'll just get you a new one!" screamed Luna from behind her. They ran faster than they had ever thought they could run before. Lola had ignited the light of scepter as brightly as she could; there was no need for secrecy now. Arrows rained upon them, one managed to stick through Lisa's hat and just stay there.

They came to a series of stairs; they ran down those stairs but then, a large stalactite dropped right in front of them causing part of their path to go tumbling down. Lynn, never showing fear jumped across.

"Luna! Grab Lisa and jump over!" she ordered. Luna nodded, picked up her little sister and jumped right over. Lana turned into a vulture, picked Lola up and flew her across.

"That was smart thinking Lana!" laughed Luna. "Hey why did I have to jump across with Lisa?" she then asked Lynn.

"I was worried her legs were too short to make it, and I need you to help me catch Luan," answered Lynn.

"What? I can't jump! I could go tumbling down!" yelled Luan.

"Just imagine you're doing a stage dive!" Luna shouted from the other side.

"I can't see where I'm jumping!" Luan replied.

"Luan, Lynn's right, it's the only way," Lincoln told her.

"This is ridiculous! Leni, help me toss her," Lori retorted. They each grabbed one of Luan's arms, even though she was still screaming, and threw her across where she was caught by Lynn and Luna. Luan stopped screaming when she realized she was safe.

"That's our brave girl!" said Lisa.

"Yeah, now you just stand over here while we get everyone else across," said Lynn as she led her blind sister to a safe spot. Luan was privately glad to obey. Leni picked Lucy up and then jumped right across where they were also received with open arms.

"I didn't know you could pick Lucy up!" exclaimed Lola.

"I didn't either," said a breathless Leni.

"Just don't ever do it again," said Lucy irritably. Lori turned Lincoln to face her and knelt down in front of him.

"Okay Link, remember how we used to play horsie when you were little?" she asked him, fear etched in her voice.

"Do you have to bring that up now?" he asked with a moan.

"Well, this isn't going to be like that," answered Lori. She picked him up with a mighty heave and jumped across, her eyes closing in mid-jump. But that didn't scare him. What did scare him was that she actually tossed him away from her. So they were both sailing through the air. Lana was still in vulture form so she flew up and managed to catch Lincoln in flight. Lori landed on the edge of the stairs she was aiming for and it was all Leni could do to grab her arm and pull her the rest of the way.

"What was that?" asked Lincoln exasperatedly when Lana set him back down.

"I was hoping that if I didn't make it, at least you would," said Lori, tears filling her eyes.

"Well thanks, but please don't do that again," answered Lincoln, breathing a little more slowly.

"We'll discuss this later, we gotta run, now!" yelled Lynn, so that's exactly what they did, Lana still in vulture form and Leni leading Luan again. They could hear drums echoing doom all over the place. They eventually came to a very old bridge that was made of rope and planks. It did not matter. They had to cross it, Lana just flew right over while her siblings ran, not worrying about safety precautions, no time for that. Once they were all across Luna turned around, unsheathed her swords and cut the ropes with a few swift moves while goblins started coming down, firing arrows. Once the ropes were severed, the bridge fell down, the goblins realized they couldn't cross it and catch the intruders.

"Goodnight Forgotten Mines!" Luna shouted, waving her swords above her head. Lucy grabbed her sister by the belt and pulled her away.

"Solves that problem, but let's get out now!" she said. They heard a large hissing noise and out of the chasm they had crossed came a giant serpent's head! Lynn, staying calm, picked up a nearby pike and threw it, managing to spear the creature right through the head. The creature tumbled back down. It's mouth forever silenced.

"That wuz anticlimactic," said Lisa.

"Just like a deadly softball," said Lynn with a shrug before everyone started to run again. They finally came upon the exit and wasted no time in forever leaving such a horrid place. Once they were far enough away, they just collapsed, panting horribly out of breath.

"Please don't ask us to do that again," said Lori.

"Don't worry, we don't have to go back there. Once we get our breath back, we must move out. By nightfall there's a good chance this place will be swarming with more goblins, maybe even trolls. Lucy, you didn't lose the ring did you?" Lincoln replied. Lucy showed that the ring was still hanging around her neck.

"Great, our next stop is in the Woods of Gladden Light. It is a place of healing, and considering what we've been through, we could use that," Lincoln continued.

They entered some very peaceful woods, birds chirping, an occasional squirrel running by them. It was different from the mines in every respect.

"So, this is the place of healing? Then where are all the doctors?" asked Leni. Just then arrow appeared out of nowhere staring her directly in the face. The group now found themselves surrounded by elven archers.

"This one speaks so loud, we could have easily shot her in the dark if we wanted to," one of them said.

"Hey! There's a small goblin over here! What say we put it out of its misery?" another one called out, his arrow pointing directly at Lucy. But Lynn stepped right in between them.

"You harm a hair on her head and I swear I'll kill you!" she screeched.

"Lower your arrows, we'll take them to the Lord and Lady," the elf they figured was a chieftain said.

They were brought to some kind of antechamber that had seemingly been carved out of a great tree trunk. Pale lights hung everywhere. Right in front of them was a fountain that seemed to have been carved out of the tree trunk as well. Two elves, male and female, walked in and faced the Loud siblings. They wore robes of glittering white, and small crowns that could easily have been carved from holly upon their heads. Their eyes were both a deep blue.

"Everybody kneel!" hissed Lincoln. His sisters obeyed, knowing it best not to argue.

"You have been on a weary journey, we know of your mission. Our kin Griffond sent word to us. My name is Lord Caerborn this is Lady Flouriel. Please know that you are welcome here. Forgive the guards, these are dark times and we cannot be too careful," said the man. Lady Flouriel stretched her hand toward the siblings.

"I sense there is great suffering, bring that one forward," she said, pointing.

"Uh, which one of us is she referring to?" Luan asked nervously. She suddenly felt two very strong arms pick her up by the shoulders. She allowed herself to be dragged, even though she was scared.

"Luan!" Lynn exclaimed, getting up.

"Lynn, no!" Lincoln warned, grabbing shoulder to stop her from doing anything they'd regret later. Luan was forced to kneel before the two elves. Lady Flouriel removed her blindfold and looked upon Luan's sightless eyes.

"You were not born with this affliction, were you?" she asked.

"No ma'am, I wasn't," answered Luan nervously. Then, she felt the sensation of liquid pouring upon her eyes. It felt cool, and then she didn't see complete darkness anymore. Her vision became blurry. She could just make out the shape of a woman with long blonde hair. Then her vision became clearer and she could see a woman of great beauty wearing a long white robe. She looked at her hands. She flexed them, gently caressing her fingers. She stood up, cautiously looking around.

"Thank you," she told Lady Flouriel, who just smiled. She turned around and looked upon her siblings, tears streaming down her cheeks. Her siblings stood up, looking at Luan wordlessly. They once again saw her bright, crystal clear eyes again.

"You okay?" asked Lori.

"I never really appreciated just how beautiful you all look," Luan replied, still weeping. She immediately found herself in a major group hug.


	3. Duke Marubend

They spent about a week in the Woods of Gladden Light. They went over plans, were stocked up, given way bread that they were told could easily keep them going for a whole day. Leni and Lori were restocked on their arrows, and they were given boats that they would end up using to reach the next leg of their journey. On the day of their departure, Lord Caerborn and Lady Flouriel approached the group.

"We have gifts for each of you, with hopes that they may help you in your quest," Lady Flouriel told them. She handed Lori and Leni each a beautifully carved dagger, in case they ever came into hand-to-hand combat. To the twins, they were both given each beautiful chain mail vests. They were told that they were light as a feather, but capable of deflecting the hardest blows. Then they turned to Luan.

"We have already given you back your sight, wanderer, you probably expect nothing more," said Lady Flouriel.

"Having my sight restored is a wonderful gift, thank you," replied Luan sheepishly, but Lord Caerborn handed her a staff of black wood.

"But surely, you must have a weapon to protect yourself, press the insignia," he told her, pointing at a silver leaf in the middle. Luan did out of curiosity and the two ends popped out, still connected to the main staff by chains.

"Cool!" replied Luan, she pushed the leaf again and the two ends reconnected to the staff. Then the Lord and Lady approached Lynn and Lucy.

"Dwarf, you showed great courage, standing up for someone most wouldn't have. And you, goblin, your appearance may suggest otherwise, but seeing you with this group tells me your heart is pure. Therefore we present these to you," Flouriel said to them. Lynn and Lucy were each handed a green-grey cloak with a star clasp.

"While these may not protect you from swords or arrows, they can camouflage you, and the stars show that you are friends of the elves, no one who knows the symbol will threaten you," Caerborn explained. Then they went to Luna.

"Stretch your hands out," Flouriel instructed. Luna did as she was told, and Flouriel slipped onto each hand a ring with a red gemstone on each of them.

"Now take your swords in your hands and think of fire," Caerborn told her before Luna could say anything. Luna obeyed and no sooner was her swords stretched out that the blades ignited in flames. She stood perfectly still, mostly in shock then the blades returned to their normal state.

"Did you want the flames to stop?" asked Caerborn.

"Uh yeah, to be honest, it was kinda freakin' me out," answered Luna.

"First time nervousness, do not be afraid, you might find that it will be useful in the future," Flouriel replied waving her hand in a manner of saying 'it's alright.'

"Well, it's a sweet power, thank you, I think I'll get the hang of it," replied Luna, sheathing her swords again. Then it was Lisa's turn. To her Flouriel handed her a small vial.

"This potion will save anyone from even the most grievous wounds or the deadliest poisons. But use it wisely," Caerborn told her. Lisa promised she would. Finally the Lord and Lady approached Lincoln. To him was handed a small vial that seemed to have something living inside of it.

"This is a light from one of our stars, guard it well, if all other lights should fail, it might be your beacon of hope," Lady Flouriel told him. Lincoln thanked her for the gift, and gently placed the vial in his vest pocket. Now the siblings got into the boats. Most of them didn't really know much about boating, but the previous day, they were given basic instructions on how to paddle. In the first boat, went Lori and the twins, who were now wearing their armor.

"I'll admit, I'm not normally one for chain mail, but this is pretty," said Lola. In the second boat went Lincoln, Leni and Lisa. In the third boat went Luna and Luan and the fourth was Lynn and Lucy. It was in these two boats that the majority of gear was placed for reasons of weight distribution. They waved goodbye to the elves until they disappeared behind the mists.

Their first night out on the river, they made camp on an island. There was no need to cook a fire; the way bread they were given was enough to fill them, one piece each.

"This is pretty good stuff, we should've tried to get the recipe," said Leni.

"Honestly, I don't think we could make it with the ingredients we have in our world. Luan hate to do this to you, but with the fact you have your sight again, it's high time you take the first watch," answered Lincoln.

"No problem Lincoln. After everything we've been through, I'm nowhere near ready to close my eyes again," said Luan cheerfully.

"Yeah well, you're just lucky you couldn't see the inside of the yucky, dusty, disgusting mines," replied Lola.

"That's what made them cool!" retorted Lana.

"I thought the fact that they were dark and cold made them cool," said Lucy.

"Enough about the mines! We had our time in them and frankly, we need to focus more on what's going to be in front of us!" said Lincoln angrily.

"Okay, now there's something I think you should all be aware of, so please pay attention," he continued. Everyone gathered around in order to hear him loud and clear.

"Now, the river we are traveling is going to take us to Duke Marubend, you all know he's an excellent swordsman, you all know that Luna's character was his protégé, you all know he's evil, and you all know he possesses one of the rings we're supposed to retrieve," he told them.

"Am I supposed to fight him?" asked Luna.

"Yes, in the movie, your character has a great fight with him," answered Lincoln, sadness ringing in his voice. It was because of his tone that Luna clutched her chest, looking terrified. Then Lincoln took her free hand and held it gently, then looked at her.

"Luna, if you don't want to face him, I understand. Going up against a master swordsman is a lot to ask someone who's just learning the basics on how to swordfight properly. I'll take him on for you if you want," he offered.

"Like hell you will! If anyone's fighting Luna's battles for her, it's going to be me!" said Lynn, standing up.

"Lynn's right, she's a black belt, knows how to fight well, she might be the only one of us who has a chance to beat him!" Lori agreed. It was agreed Lynn might be the best choice. Lincoln handed Luan his light so she could see in the bleak darkness.

"Star's coming out! Get it?" she joked. Everyone just grumbled and went to sleep.

The next day, they traveled down the river until they could see a tower that looked like a black dagger piercing the sky. They beached their canoes, hid them amongst some timber and climbed up a hill in order to get a better look. There weren't too many guards at the front entrance of the gate surrounding the tower about a handful.

"Sisters, I give you the fortress of Duke Marubend," said Lincoln.

"Okay, what's the plan for getting in there and retrieving the ring?" asked Leni.

"Give me a moment. Okay, Luan, you're still wearing clothes that mark you down as a blind traveler. Just go to the front gate, tell the guards you're lost; they'll believe you. Then, when they've likely had a laugh and their guard is down, catch them by surprise and clobber them. The rest of us will jump out from hiding and we'll storm the tower. We take down anyone that gets in our way. Once we enter the tower, I'll take Lynn to face the Duke, and I hate to say this, but the rest of you will have to fight his minions, humans and goblins," answered Lincoln.

"That'sh the plan? There'sh a good chunk of that relying on luck," replied Lisa.

"Well, luck got us this far, it might be there for us again," said Leni. They all slunk down the hill and made a careful point to hide behind some trees. Luan pulled her hood up and stretched her staff out, tapping the ground with it. That's when Luna grabbed her hand.

"Be careful over there, okay," she whispered, before letting go.

"Don't worry, those guards won't know what _hit_ them," replied Luan with a smile. She comically blundered out of the trees and started walking towards the gate, tapping the ground with her stick.

"Oh look, we've got a blind one coming over here," laughed one of the guards.

"Is someone over there? Oh please tell me that I'm someplace where I can get a bite to eat. I've been walking for a better part of the day, I lost my way and I'm absolutely famished!" Luan called, walking towards the guards with her free hand outstretched. The guards just looked at her with a sneer.

"Oh sure, we can get you something to eat! How do you feel about table scraps, beggar?" one of them teased.

"Remind me not to invite you to my place for dinner!" replied Luan. She released the ends of her staff, and twirling it around her head, she effortlessly took out the surprised guards who had lowered their weapons, not expecting trouble from a blind traveler. Luan's sibling jumped out of their hiding place and joined her. Luckily, the gate was unlocked so they effortlessly walked in. Rushing through the courtyard, any goblin or man that tried to approach them got knocked over. When they finally reached the tower, two tall goblin sentries stood at either side of a tall door. The moment they saw Lucy, they shouted: "Traitor!" They drew out their swords and started running toward her, but Lori and Leni shot them each with an arrow.

"Nobody messes with our siblings, only we get to do that," said Lori. They all rushed in through the doors and quickly slammed them behind them and even latched them so nothing could get in _or out_. They could hear the pounding of feet everywhere within the building, and they could see in the windows that some of the guards they avoided outside were getting ready to break in.

"Don't worry, we can handle them down here, just go!" Lana shouted to Lynn and Lincoln, before turning into an elephant. Lincoln led Lynn up a series of stairs, while the rest of their siblings stayed where they were. They could hear Luna singing a battle song.

 _Welcome to the Jungle!_

 _We got fun 'n' games_

 _We got everything you want_

 _Honey we know the names_

The two of them did at one point encounter three goblins that were making their way downstairs to join the fight, but Lynn and Lincoln made short work of them, thanks in no small part that they had been smart enough to draw their weapons when they started climbing the stairs.

They came to another level within the tower. There were a series of gothic windows stained blue and red. Tapestries hung from the ceiling. But neither of those things got their full-undivided attention. That honor went to a man standing right in the middle of the room. He wore a long black cape, a metal breastplate and black silk clothing with knee-high boots. He sported a dark brown beard and wore an earring with what appeared to be a fang dangling on his right ear. At his side he wore a sword that he drew when they entered the room, and they could see he had a ring on his finger.

"So these are the champions that they send against me? I must confess myself a little disappointed, I expected someone taller," he said in a deep bombastic voice. Lynn gave Lincoln a look that said to stay put and ran right up to face Duke Marubend. Lincoln hid in a corner, watching his sister take her much taller opponent without fear. Marubend seemed to effortlessly glide in the fight, merely parrying Lynn's axe attacks.

"I must admit dwarf, you fight well. I am almost tempted to offer you a rank in my guards," he said rather casually.

"I'll eat a rat before I join one!" Lynn answered, spitting at him.

"Now that's just naughty," Marubend replied parrying another one of her attacks. They fought further, practically dancing around the room. Lincoln looked up at one of the banners, coming up with a plan that might help his sister. Grabbing a nearby barrel, he stood up on it and pulled on the banner hard enough to free it from its hangings. He rushed up to the pair fighting wielding the banner like a rope, hoping his time playing cowboy when he was much younger would pay off. But Marubend must have seen him coming from the corner of his eye and managed to grab the banner with his free hand and throw Lincoln off balance.

"Nice try Halfling, but assassins have attempted better on me before!" he snarled, kicking Lynn right in the stomach, hard enough to knock her to the floor. He approached Lincoln, who was now lying on the ground. He just looked at him with a raised eyebrow. The fingers of his free hand twitched and he turned around so quickly that Lincoln couldn't even gasp out in surprise. Lynn had gotten to her feet but her opponent had been expecting that. Lincoln got up as quickly as he could and what he saw chilled his blood.

Lynn was now kneeling, a dagger piercing her gut. She gasped out in pain, tears beginning to form in her eyes as she grabbed the very thing that now pained her. She couldn't help it much longer; she fell on her side, coughing horribly.

"You like diamond daggers? I find they come in handy from time to time. You're a great fighter dwarf, but I've taken taller and better opponents. I'll be sure to give you an honorable death, and keep your hatchets as a trophy" Marubend said, an evil grin on his face. Lincoln drew his blade and rushed to his sister's aide.

"NO!" he yelled. Marubend parried against him. Lincoln held his ground for about a minute, but it was clear he didn't have a chance. Marubend managed to push him away from Lynn then swept Lincoln's legs, knocking the boy onto his back once again. This time he stepped directly on Lincoln's stomach, putting a great amount of weight on him. Lincoln couldn't breathe, as he tried to get his opponent's foot off of him, to no avail. Then Marubend gently scratched Lincoln's cheek with his blade, leaving a clean cut.

"Did you honestly think you, a mere Halfling, could defeat me? I am easily one of the greatest swordsmen in the land, a reputation that has caused many to shake in fear! But, I admire your courage, I will make sure your death is swift and painless!" said Marubend, his smile never once leaving his face.

"No! Please let him go! Finish me off instead! Cough, cough!" Lynn gasped, tears now streaming from her eyes. Blood was now slowly pouring between her fingers where she clutched her wound.

"Don't worry dwarf, I will finish you off as soon as I'm done with him, and when I report this I will take good note of the courage you both showed futile though your effort was," replied Marubend, his eyes never leaving Lincoln. He raised his sword right above Lincoln, ready to strike down.

"GET AWAY FROM HIM!" a voice rang out. Marubend suddenly turned his attention away from Lincoln, even getting off him. Lincoln gasped out for breath as he looked towards the voice. While he was glad beyond belief to see the owner he was still surprised. There was Luna, both of her swords drawn, and there was a fire blazing in her eyes the likes of which Lincoln had never seen before.

"Ah, so the prodigal child returns," laughed Marubend, twirling his own sword casually in one hand.

"I have returned to finish you, Lisa, tend to Lynn!" replied Luna with a growl, the blades of her swords now blazing with fire. Directly behind her, Lincoln could in fact see Lisa now going over to Lynn, taking the vial the elves had given her out. Then he watched as Luna and Marubend fought each other.

"You've been among the elves, haven't you?" asked Marubend, looking at the rings on Luna's hands while managing to block two strikes effortlessly.

"What's it to you?" asked Luna angrily; still trying to catch him off guard, but her opponent clearly knew every trick.

"You seem rather rusty, have you been out of practice, old apprentice?" asked Marubend. He really seemed to be enjoying himself. Clearly he was in his element. They attacked and parried each other, Luna clearly sweating, she was already weary, which was understandable as she had before been fighting multiple foes downstairs and had just climbed a long flight of stairs. Then Marubend, with a quick flick of his sword, knocked one her swords from her grip.

"Ah now, you grip your weapon too loosely I must confess myself disappointed," he said. Luna grabbed the one sword she still gripped with both hands and just continued to try to hack at her opponent, breathing heavily.

"Disappointed? With the way I fight, or with the side I chose to fight on?" she asked. They danced across the floor, at one point when Marubend's back was facing the doorway the four siblings had come through; he made a quick thrust with his sword, cutting Luna on the shoulder. In shock, Luna dropped her weapon and grabbed her shoulder. It was over; her energy was spent, she knew that she was about to die at the hands of this man. Exhausted, she collapsed to her knees. She felt the cold touch of steel on her chin as she was forced to look back upon her opponent.

"You once said I was like a father to you. Well, it seems ironic that your father figure should send you to the grave. No matter, it has been an honor to cross blades with you one last time," he said, disdain in his voice.

"Hey bucko!" someone yelled. Marubend barely had time to look up when a dagger was thrown at him, hitting him right in the chest. He gasped, dropping his sword and backing up a few steps. He saw Lynn, no longer in pain, just standing behind a barrel, a mischievous grin on her face.

"You were right, diamond daggers do come in handy," she said. Her now-defeated opponent clutched his chest, still walking awkwardly backwards. Then he tripped over a banner that Lincoln and Lisa were holding up at ankle level causing him to fall tumbling down the stairs. Lincoln and Lisa dropped their ersatz weapon as they walked over to Luna, who was now weeping.

"Luna, are you alright?" Lincoln asked. She just hugged him.

"I couldn't let him hurt you," she cried. Lynn walked over to her siblings, a move she regretted when Luna forced her into the hug as well. Lisa found herself stuck in the embrace as well.

"Believe me, I'm glad you came, but what made you decide to come up here?" Lincoln asked Luna. She let go of her three siblings and explained herself.

"It must have been my big sister instinct, but I had a gut feeling you two were in danger. So, I grabbed Lisa and we ran up those stairs to help you, I don't know if anyone even saw us leave," she answered.

"Well, we besht get going downschtairs. Hopefully the fight ish over," said Lisa.

"Thank heavens for that stuff the elves gave you Lisa, I'd be a goner without it," Lynn replied as they all made their way back downstairs, Luna making sure to pick her swords back up, even though she barely ad the strength to use them at the moment. Lincoln used his dagger to cut a piece from the banner he and Lisa used to trip Duke Marubend earlier and used it as a bandage for Luna's shoulder.

Once they got back down, they saw their sisters huddled around Duke Marubend's bruised body. The ones they had been fighting lay dead on the ground.

"Once this guy came tumbling down, anyone who was still fighting just fled, even broke open the doors and disappeared," said an exhausted Lori. Lincoln bent down and removed the ring from their foe's finger.

"Lynn, Luna, you both faced him, even though you knew the danger, so I'm going to ask you, which one of you wants to bear his ring?" he asked them.

"Lynn may have it, she's the one who finished him off with his own dagger," answered Luna.

"Luna, if it hadn't been for you and Lisa, I would be dead, you can carry it," Lynn replied. Rather than cause a fight, Lincoln decided that Lisa could carry it. Although Luna did decide to take Marubend's fanged earring and put it in her own ear.

"It's a sweet accessory," she said. As they were making their way out, Lucy grabbed two torches and threw them to the ground. Then, using her dagger, she cut a nearby robe causing a chandelier to fall, the candles it held collapsing to the ground.

"What're you doing?" asked Lola.

"A funeral fit for a king," said Lucy as everyone ran out. Lana turned herself into a wolf as they started to pick up speed to get away from the building.

"C'mon baby light my fire," said Luna as the smell of smoke reached their nostrils.


	4. Night Riders

They were far out of sight of Duke Marubend's fortress. At this point, Lola and Lisa had been made to ride on Lana because in her wolf form she was clearly strong enough to carry the smaller ones. Lincoln knew their destination so they followed him without much argument, sometimes asking what they could expect.

"So after dealing with that crazy sword guy, and nearly getting killed by hordes of goblins underground, what could possibly be worse?" Lynn asked.

"Trust me Lynn, King Cypress has many dark forces at his disposal. There are creatures we must still face that would turn a grown man white," Lincoln answered.

"Hey what's that up ahead?" Leni asked pointing at what appeared to be a ruined structure on top of a hill in the distance.

"My guess is that it used to be some kind of lookout tower. I think we can safely make camp there for tonight," Lincoln answered.  
"Yeah, but if we go there, we'll have to be on the _lookout_ for any ghosts and ghoulies who want to catch us," replied Luan.

"I resent that statement," said Lucy. But they made it there before nightfall; right in the middle of the structure they found the remains of a campfire. Lisa felt the ashes carefully.

"Shtill warm, someone wuz recently," she said.

"Yes, evidently travelers camp here, I doubt anyone is going to find a group trying to keep warm in an open structure out here suspicious," added Lincoln. So they made camp, Lana keeping an eye out for any foes. When night was beginning to settle, she immediately reported something.

"There's a couple of creepy-looking dudes on horses over there!" she exclaimed. Everyone stood up, and sure enough in the distance, there were five horseback riders who were just standing there, as if waiting for someone or something.

"The Night Riders, they are among the most dangerous agents of King Cypress. Once they were mortal men, but they were twisted and corrupted into evil becoming little better than spirits. But I wouldn't worry, their greatest weakness is fire, as long as we stay where we are we should be fine," Lincoln told them.

"All of a sudden I don't feel sleepy anymore," said Lola, nobody else felt like sleeping either.

"So whose job is it to take the watch?" asked Leni.

"If nobody's going to sleep, we don't have to assign it," answered Lynn. They gathered in a circle. Sitting with their backs to the fire, trying not to blink too much until they started seeing movement around the edge of the ruins.

"Lisa, you don't perchance have something flammable in that knapsack of yours do you?" Lynn whispered to her. Lisa fished around looking nervous and gave her a small flask. Very carefully, Lynn sprinkled the liquid on her axe heads. Luan, who was sitting nearby asked if she could borrow some when she was done; Lynn allowed her without question. Then, four figures wearing long cloaks appeared fully out of the darkness, each one carrying a sword. Lynn held her axes over the fire, allowing the blades to catch flame. Luna unsheathed her swords and they burst into light.

"Come no closer, we're warning you!" yelled Lynn. But then something happened the two of them did not expect. Right from their side, a torch flew right into one of the figures, setting it ablaze. The figure made some sort of sound that reminded everyone of an elephant in pain. The siblings quickly looked around to see the source of that torch and saw Luan, joyfully juggling three more torches.

"Ha, bet you weren't expecting someone was going to _light up_ your night now were you?" she laughed, stepping in front of her shocked siblings. She then threw her three remaining torches at the other three figures; they were quickly caught ablaze, and they all floated off screeching. Once they were gone, the siblings relaxed a little, even standing up.

"Wasn't there a fifth horseman?" asked Leni nervously.

"More importantly, is that the end of them?" added Lori.

"No, they're not exactly that easy to kill. I did say fire was their weakness, but at the best we have simply run them off. As for the fifth one, let's hope he doesn't try to do a boss level act," answered Lincoln. He had no sooner finished his sentence than a bunch of gray strands of cloth appeared, capturing himself, Lisa, Lola, and Lana.

"Surrender now or the small ones die!" a hideous hissing voice announced. Everyone looked around terrified and saw another hooded figure, from whom they could quickly see those gray strands of cloth were originating from.

"Nice try pal, but we know your weakness!" laughed Lynn as she and Luna quickly severed their younger siblings free. Lori got what was left of the flammable liquid from Luan, doused one of her arrowheads with it, set it ablaze and fired it at the figure. The figure just caught it in midflight and flung it away like a piece of trash.

"Fool! I am far more powerful than thou can imagine! Thou canst defeat me with such primitive skills!" it screeched. Then the siblings noticed something peculiar; Lucy was nowhere in sight. She appeared from under her cloak right next to the figure. Lady Flouriel was right, draped by her cloak, it was easy to mistake her for a rock. Swiftly, Lucy pulled her dagger out and practically twirling around, she stabbed the hooded figure in the chest with it!

"Hear me Hell Spawn! I cast you now back into the pit! Tell whoever you meet Lucy Loud sent you!" Lucy shouted as the last hooded figured shrieked most unpleasantly. She twisted the dagger she embedded in her opponent's chest roughly before pulling it out. It almost seemed as though the figure's cloaks were collapsing in on itself until finally, all that was left was some old robes that fell to the ground in a heap. Lucy stepped on the robes for good measure before turning to face her siblings.

"What on bloody earth did you jusht do?" asked a perplexed Lisa. Lucy held up her dagger and pointed at the skull decoration on the hilt.

"When the first four figures approached us with their swords drawn, I noticed that the hilts of their swords had a similar design. Remembering that we actually saw five, while the rest of you were occupied by Luan's circus act, I made a point to blend myself in with my surrounding. I find at night, that's an easy task for me. Then when I was certain I could get close enough to the last guy without much harm to myself, I leapt out and finished him," Lucy explained.

"Honestly, I'm glad we're traveling with a spooky girl like you," said Luna.

"You have done a good thing Lucy, I doubt we're going to have further trouble with the Night Riders for the rest of the night, you and Luan demonstrated that we're not the kind of family they want to mess with," agreed Lincoln. They burnt the cloak just to make the figure's death official. However, nobody still felt like falling asleep so they spent the majority of the night telling stories and singing songs around the campfire.

The next morning, they quickly broke camp and headed out, following the trail. Lana reverted to her wolf form, once again carrying her two younger siblings. They had only managed to hike about five miles when it felt as though the ground beneath their feet was thundering.

"Is that an earthquake?" asked Leni. Lynn quickly climbed up on a nearby rock to try getting a better view.

"Hey, there's a couple of horsemen heading this way!" she called.

"Oh come on, we already had that problem, there's no way we can deal with that again!" complained Leni.

"No, they seem to be wearing some kind of armor, and they're carrying a banner! I doubt they're related to the Night Riders!" Lynn responded.

"Lincoln, you're the expert, what do you think we should do?" asked Lori. Lincoln was perfectly calm; in fact, he looked as though he was enjoying a breeze blowing through his hair. But when Lori asked him that question he snapped back to proper consciousness and for lack of a better term took charge once again.

"Lucy, you better put your hood up, and try to remain quiet. If this army is who I think they are, I believe they might be able to help us," he answered. Lucy pulled her hood over her head, covering the majority of her face. The riders then approached the siblings, surrounding them; they did not make any attempt to hurt them other than stare directly at them.

"Well, you are certainly a strange group of travelers. What business brings you here?" asked the man they quickly guessed was the leader.

"We are on a quest to regain the three rings of power. We are now on our way to face the forces of King Cypress," Lincoln answered. His sisters looked at him in surprise. They weren't really expecting him to be so open with the nature of their mission.

"You're not the one's who defeated Duke Marubend are you? We heard reports that his fortress was burned down," the man answered.

"Dude, does this look familiar to you?" Luna asked, pointing at the fang earring she was wearing in her right ear. The men who were closest to them gasped.

"I do not know who this 'Dude' is, my name is Archibald. Yes, that is Marubend's trademark earring. So you did defeat him, did you take his ring?" Archibald asked again.

"You better believe it, after he nearly killed three of ush," answered Lisa.

"Well, it would appear that there's more to all of you than meets the eye. If you are against King Cypress, then perhaps we can count on you as allies. But, it might appear that you could use swifter transport," Archibald said said with a half smile. He made a motion with his arm and four horses without riders were brought over.

"These horses lost their previous riders in a battle we fought just recently. Perhaps they can bring you to far better fortune," said Archibald. Lincoln nodded to his sisters. Lori got one horse, Leni and Lincoln shared the next, Luna and Lucy shared the third, and then Lynn and Luan took the last one.

"Looks as though you're much smaller companions already have a noble ride. By the way, your hooded friend there doesn't say much?" observed Archibald.

"Uh, she's a girl of few words," answered Luna.

"I can talk, I just didn't have much to say," Lucy finally spoke up.

"Well, the wind doesn't say much, but it is a true power unto itself," laughed one of the riders. They all rode off, Lincoln likely knew where they were headed, but none of his sister's questioned him. They trusted his judgment, and considering these riders had willingly allowed them to travel with them, it seemed as though they could in theory be trusted.

They came to a great tent city; Archibald led them on foot to a very large tent. Two guards were standing right outside the entrance. One of them looked carefully upon the cloaks that Lynn and Lucy wore.

"I know that symbol, you have been to Woods of Gladden Light! Tell me, is the Lord and Lady-" one of the guards began to ask until Archibald held up a hand.

"There is no time for questions, we must begin preparations quickly. Oh, and I am sorry, but you must pull your hood down, we all wish to see your face," he said pointing at Lucy. It was difficult to tell Lucy's reaction on account that her hood was held low over her face in addition to the hair that normally covered her eyes anyway.

"Go ahead Lucy," said Lincoln. Slowly, Lucy grasped the sides of her hood, and pulled it back. The soldiers who had a clear view of the scene gasped, stopping in their tracks. Some even made a point to grab the hilts of their swords. Never before had they allowed a goblin into their camp.

"I thought I'd never live to see the day that an elf would bestow that kind of honor on a goblin," said the guard who recognized the elven symbol earlier.

"She's with us, if you got a problem with her, you got a problem with us," said Lola, gritting her teeth.

"She killed the leader of the Night Riders last night, if that doesn't earn her some respect, nothing does," added Lincoln.

"Nobody could destroy one of the Night Riders, they're impossible to kill," said Archibald in a skeptical voice. Lucy drew the dagger she had used.

"Not unless you used one of their weapons against them," she said. Archibald and the two guards looked upon the dagger, studying it with their eyes.

"I must be out of my mind, you may all come in, but you must leave your weapons here," he said. It took a great deal of unstrapping, but the Loud siblings obeyed his command. Entering the large tent, they saw a man with golden hair and regal garments looking over what appeared to be various maps. He looked up at the newcomers.

"I heard rumors amongst the rebels that a group had finally set out to retrieve the legendary three rings of power, but I didn't dare hope you'd survive the Forgotten Mines!" he exclaimed. It turned out that this was General Markus, he was the leader of a group of rebels who fought against King Cypress' forces in this part of the land. Introductions were made, and they even revealed the two rings they already had.

"So it was your group who finally defeated Duke Marubend, I thought he'd never die, many had tried, many had failed," replied Markus.

"Honestly, he came close to winning, but he had never met us," laughed Lynn.

"Well, then perhaps you can help us. Now, the castle of King Cypress is well guarded, impenetrable by all accounts. But, if there was a way someone could sneak in, there could be a chance to retrieve his ring, and if possible, use it against him," said Markus.

"Queshtion: Why haven't you done that?" asked Lisa.

"As I said, the castle is well-guarded, many of our attempts have been caught, and then killed or captured. Moreover, legends tell us that Cypress imbedded within the very stones of that building deep magic. We believe that if a hardy team were assembled, perhaps they could sneak in while my army distracts the inhabitants," answered Markus.

"We're not afraid! We'll do it!" announced Leni. Everyone looked at her surprised.

"What? I thought that was our destiny?" she asked. Her siblings rolled their eyes. But it was agreed that they would be the ones to sneak in while the army provided the necessary distraction.

That night, there was a great feast, something to remember a cheerful memory before heading off to battle. Lori made it clear that none of the siblings drank alcohol (giving Leni and Luna a dirty look). Luan entertained the soldiers by juggling steak knives in front of them. Luna also helped in the entertainment by singing Bonnie Tyler's 'I need a Hero.' The soldiers absolutely loved it.


	5. Into the belly of the beast

The next day, plans were gone over one last time, this time, Markus pulled from a leather satchel he had a small scroll. He unrolled it in front of the Loud siblings and showed them two very important details that they might just need in order to succeed.

"A group of spies actually died retrieving this information for us. Now, there's a group of windows on the side of the castle you could probably sneak in. I don't know if you'd be willing to carry a ladder but that might look suspicious," he told them.

"We don't need a ladder, give us a long enough rope and I can fly it up there!" announced Lana before turning into an albatross.

"Well, that certainly solves that problem. Now the next thing you must know is that King Cypress supposedly has many monsters guarding the interior of his castle. If you manage to face him in person, there is a chant you must know, as it might be able to counteract his dark magic," continued Markus.

"I think I know where this is going," said Lincoln. Markus unrolled the last parchment, written upon it was a strange verse.

" _Ash nazg durbatuluk, ash nazg gimbatul,_ " read Lincoln out loud. Everyone looked at him with surprise, Markus and Archibald with a little fear mixed in.

"Well, I certainly would've expected one of the elves to be familiar with this phrase, the goblin definitely, maybe even the gnome wizard here, but certainly not a Halfling!" exclaimed Archibald.

"Never before has that language been uttered in front of me! But now is not the time to complain!" added Markus.

"Will somebody please fill us in?" asked Lynn.

"That is a spell spoken in the dark tongue, and hopefully we won't have to use it. But if it comes to that, it might be what finally destroys King Cypress," explained Lincoln.

"You seem to possess knowledge far beyond that of any Halfling I've ever met," said Archibald.

"Well, let's just say that he did his reading," Lori replied, gently elbowing her brother. After the brief reading, Lincoln volunteering to carry the scroll carrying the spell, the army rode off. They eventually came to a great tall castle that appeared to have been constructed entirely of black brick. Banners featuring a skull with vampire fangs billowed from the parapets. Directly in the front of the castle was a double door made of wood that could have very easily fit an army tank through it. The army made as much noise as possible and the great wooden doors opened. Goblins, trolls, and various creatures that I wouldn't dare describe, even here, filed out.

Meanwhile, unseen and unobserved, the Loud siblings snuck to the side of the castle that they had been pointed to. Lana turned herself back into an albatross and allowed Lisa to climb onto her back with a rope.

"Remind why I'm doing thish?" asked Lisa nervously.

"Because this is the only way we might be able to get out of here. Also to help these people out and because you're the smallest and easiest for Lana to carry," replied Lori. Lisa nodded right before she and Lana took off. After entering through a window, Lana turned into a human and using her Blue Bell Scout skills, she tied the rope to a nearby table that had what appeared to be torture devices lying on top of it. She dropped the rope down, which gave everyone the signal needed to start climbing. Lincoln, Lucy and Lola with some assistance getting on. Luan had to tie her staff to the end of the rope in order to drag it up when she reached the top.

"Okay everyone, here's where it's going to get tricky. The walls of these castles are enchanted, and can actually change. So we must try to stick together," Lincoln informed them.

"Queshtion: If the walls can move, how do the normal inhabitants not get losht?" asked Lisa.

"Because the curse only works on intruders. Those 'normal inhabitants' as you call them are given amulets to prevent them from ending up in a maze," he answered. All of a sudden, they heard a deep booming laughter from all around the room. Looking around, they were unable to find the source.

"Greetings o travelers, you have managed to evade my forces, and have managed to make it this far into my castle. Well, you won't be going back out! Mwa ha ha ha!" laughed a rather demonic voice. That's when the floor beneath slanted, causing all ten of them to lose balance and go down what one may call the most dangerous carnival slide.

But they did not stay grouped together for very long. Right in front of them, a series of walls emerged from the ground, causing them to be separated. Lynn and Lola went down the first together. Leni and Luna went down the next. Lori managed to grab onto Lana and was trying to grab onto another sibling when they both went down another tunnel. Lucy, Lisa and Luan got bunched together and went down a tube all holding onto Luan's staff. Finally, Lincoln found himself going down a tube by himself.

Lynn and Lola landed with a great big "oomph!" Lola actually landing on top of her older sister, for years they would go on to debate if she had done that on purpose. But, at the present time, they were more concerned with the fact that it was pitch-black here. Wherever 'here' was; but it was safe to assume it wasn't safe. Lola quickly used her scepter to shed some light onto the situation, giving Lynn the freedom to grab her axes, and hold them ready.

"Well, if that creep thinks he can stop us, he's got another thing coming. Separation isn't going to get us down, right Lola? We're going to press on, right?" Lynn asked.

"It's a really good thing Leni didn't end up falling down in this tunnel," Lola replied nervously.

"Why's that?" asked a confused Lynn, still looking straight ahead.

"Because there's a whole bunch of spiders coming this way!" Lola screeched, scrambling up onto Lynn's back. While it was difficult with a six-year-old on her back, Lynn quickly turned around to see about a dozen spiders that were almost as big as the twins scuttling straight to them.

"I'm going to need a really big newspaper," Lynn said with a smile.

"Sorry Lola, but you're going to have to get off, shine your light just as brightly as possible!" she continued. Even thought Lola was afraid, she did as she was bidden. She watched Lynn take out three spiders, and then joined in the fray by hitting any spider that came close to her on the head with her scepter. As one can imagine, hitting one's opponent with their light source makes the light dance around violently; but that didn't stop the two sisters from fighting.

Luna and Leni rolled out somewhere; wherever that somewhere was, there wasn't much light. However, they could just make out a spiral staircase.

"Uh, do we just go up those stairs?" asked Leni.

"It's the only thing to do sis!" Luna replied getting up. She unsheathed her swords and ignited them, allowing for a little extra light. Leni stood up carefully and followed her sister towards the staircase. Getting a little closer to the foot of the stairs they encountered two suits of armor.

"Well, that's some nice decoration," observed Leni.

"I don't think they're for decoration," Luna replied suspiciously. She was proven correct when both suits of armor came to life, and raising the swords they carried approached the two sisters.

"This could get ugly!" Luna screamed, raising her swords in defense.

"Not the kind a little make-up can solve, right? Leni asked, not even trying to hide her fear as she unsheathed the dagger the elves had given her. The suits of armor were now practically on top of the two sisters. Luna did her best against the first one; Leni took on the second, despite the obvious fact that she had a significantly shorter blade. They knew that it would only be by some pure luck that either of them would make it out alive.

"That does it! We're not gonna take it anymore!" Luna finally shouted. With a great deal of effort, she parried her opponent's blade away with one of her swords, and used her second one to knock its helmet off. Just as she expected, there was nothing beneath, and as she hoped, the suit of armor collapsed.

She ran over to help Leni, making sure she was positioned directly behind the second suit of armor. With a single move using both her arms she chopped off the arms of Leni's opponent. Causing them to come crashing down. In a panicked state, Leni knocked the helmet off her opponent causing it to tumble down as well.

"That was easy," laughed Leni.

"Nothing can possibly be that easy," answered Luna, walking towards the stairs, her swords still drawn; Leni followed her.

"You better get your bow and arrows ready sis, I think that might have been a warm-up," Luna warned as the two of them climbed the stairs. They could hear some kind of rumbling from up above, along with strange shrieks. Looking ahead, mostly by the light of Luna's fires, they could just about make out the shapes of armored rats.

"You gotta be kiddin' me!" Luna moaned.

Lori and Lana found themselves staring at an oak door. It didn't appear threatening, but considering all the dangers the two of them had been through, they knew full well not to judge something by appearance. So, it was with great care that Lori grasped the door handle and opened the door. To say that they were surprised to see what was on the other side of that door would have been an understatement.

On one side of the hallway they now looked into was a series of windows, allowing sunlight to seep in. On the other side was a wide collection of armor and weapons. Looking at them, they feared they all belonged to soldiers who had attempted to battle the forces stationed in this castle in the past. But their attention was taken away from that by a grunting noise. Looking ahead, they quickly found the source of that noise. It was a humanoid figure with the head of a bull!

"You get right behind me big sis! This one's made for me!" Lana announced proudly. She turned into a rhinoceros and charged right at the Minotaur who in turn ran to meet his opponent. They clashed, the Minotaur grabbing onto Lana's horn, pushing with all his might; Lana just pushed back.

Lori didn't know what to do. As the oldest child, it was her job to look after her siblings, to protect them from harm. She couldn't just stand idly by while Lana fought the battle. Granted, she knew and understood that Lana could take on this opponent, especially considering the fact she was in a state that gave her really tough skin. Then she remembered the dagger the elves had given her. Her mind made up, she rushed over to the battling behemoths.

She was about to draw her dagger when she realized if she stabbed the Minotaur in the back, Lana could very easily lose balance, and possibly run both of them over. Her problem was solved when Lana managed to flip her opponent right over her. He sailed right over her rhino back, as she ran out of his way, allowing him to land flat on his back. As he was getting up Lori grabbed her bow, and an arrow, planning to shoot the creature when Lana rushed back.

Using her mouth, Lana grabbed the Minotaur by the scruff of the neck and threw him out the window. She then reverted back into her human form and brushed her pants and sleeves as though she had simply been gardening.

"Thanks for your concern big sis, but as I said, that opponent was perfect for me," she said, smiling. Lori couldn't help but smile back, she gave the little tomboy a high five and they continued walking. They passed by another door. It didn't take much brainpower to figure it could be important; Lori sheathed another arrow and Lana opened the door. On the other side were rats with armor! They saw the two sisters, and even though they were clearly in pursuit of something, they charged at them. Lana turned into a gorilla and started swatting at them furiously. Lori let an arrow hit one of the rats, and then she drew her dagger to fight them hand to hand. They were all too close for her to really use her arrows.

It didn't take long before they heard two very familiar voices. Luna and Leni were fighting the rats as well! Never had the four of them been so happy to see each other! They joined forces, Luna and Leni getting out of the staircase; the three oldest of the sisters quickly slammed the door, Lana still dealing with the rats that had made it into the hallway. Then Lori found a heavy suit of armor they all moved to bar the door to prevent any further vermin from spilling out. For a minute, they all just looked at each other, way out of breath.

"You wouldn't believe what we've just been through!" exclaimed Leni.

Luan, Lisa and Lucy were sliding through, all three of them still clutching onto Luan's staff. They found themselves actually sighing relief when they saw a light at the end of the tunnel and landed in a tangled mess.

"Okay, everyone alright?" Lisa asked she was the first one to get back up.

"I think my back's going to hurt in the morning, other than that I'm fine," Luan answered as she regained her footing. Now they had a better look around the room they were in. A gothic chandelier hung from the ceiling. There was an exit, but it was barred with iron bars. Right in the middle of this room was a pedestal. Resting upon the pedestal was what appeared to be some kind of fish bowl. Floating right in the middle of this bowl was:

"A ring!" all three of them shouted. They rushed over, all trying to get a better look. Sure enough, there it was. A single golden ring floating right in the middle of some strange liquid was a single golden ring.

"Any volunteers?" Luan asked.

"Oh no, if there's one thing I've learned it's not to be the firsht one to schtick your hand in unknown shubschtances," answered Lisa. Then, without warning a beautiful woman appeared upside down in front of them saying laughing most wickedly. She jumped down, landing on her feet with catlike grace.

"Ah, did I scare you?" she asked, the sisters could now see that her irises were the color of deep gold.

"Speaking only for myself: not really," answered Lucy. Seizing the only chance she was going to get, Luan used her staff to knock the bowl right into the face of this woman, knowing there was a chance she could do a lot worse to them.

"Looks as though you're about to make a big splash!" she laughed. The bowl broke upon impact, and the liquid that had filled the bowl actually burned her face!

"There, I resht my cashe," said Lisa.

"We've gotta get that ring!" Luan added, pointing to the ring in question as it bounced to the far wall.

"Oh come now, the fun's just beginning!" the woman laughed. The sisters watched in both horror and fascination as her burned face actually healed itself! Then, when her face was in its original form, her upper two canines grew much longer, now bearing the resemblance of fangs; She was a vampire!

"Get the ring, I can handle this one!" Lucy shouted as she drew her dagger. Luan and Lisa obeyed, running over to where the ring now lay, motionless on the floor. After having seen what the liquid it had been submerged in, they weren't eager to touch it.

"Don't make me destroy you, I actually like vampires," Lucy warned her opponent. The vampire just smiled, her golden eyes never leaving Lucy.

"Lisa, you got anything in that backpack to cool this puppy down?" Luan asked her. Lisa rummaged through her backpack quickly before pulling out what appeared to be a leather flask.

"Water," was all she said. She poured the water on the ring, steam issuing from the metal band. The vampire quickly noticed what the two sisters were doing.

"Stop thieves! I will not let you take the master's prize possession!" she screeched. She ran at great speed to the two of them. In great fear, Luan held out her staff but her opponent just grabbed the end of it and flung it away.

"Ooh, somebody wants to play? Very well, I can play. Who wants to play join the legion of the undead?" she asked. Luan and Lisa looked up at her terrified. Then the vampire threw her head back and howled as if she were in pain. She turned her back to them, and they quickly found that she was in pain; Lucy had struck her in the back with one of her axes!

"Sounds inviting, but not today," Lucy said before stabbing her opponent right through the heart with her dagger. The vampire screamed as she crumbled into dust. Lucy's two weapons clattered to the floor amongst the ashes and fancy clothing. Lucy picked them up without a word.

"As much as I love vampires, nobody threatens my family. But if you tell anyone I showed compassion, remember I know where you both sleep," she warned her two sisters. Luan gingerly picked up the ring, making sure to test the heat before pocketing it and then running to get her staff.

"Out of the three of us, I'm the only one not carrying a ring, guess it's my responsibility," she stated. Lucy picked up a necklace that the vampire had been wearing, made a motion for Luan to bend down, which she did. Lucy gently took the ring from her older sister, threaded it through the necklace, and then placed the necklace right around Luan's neck.

"Lincoln's probably better at this, but we'll have to forego the ceremonial details right now," said Lucy. Lisa then gingerly picked up a large piece of glass that still had some of that corrosive liquid in it, and carrying it ever so carefully to the iron barred doorway, she poured it on the lock. It disintegrated and the door opened. They quickly left the room, not knowing where they would be going, but hoping that it would help them be reunited with the rest of their family.

Lincoln got up, finding himself entombed in darkness. Some people would have panicked in this type of situation, but he had seen _The King of the Rings_ enough times to know what he could expect. Then he remembered the light the elves had given him. He fished it out of his pocket, and was immediately bathed in a welcoming, almost familiar light all around him.

Judging by the walls that he could now see, it was easy to guess that he was very deep within the fortress, possibly a dungeon. He drew his blade and walked forward, determined to be ready to face any obstacle that he could possibly encounter. His footsteps echoed from the walls, he worried that he would be heard at any second and some terrible beast would jump out and try to devour him. He tried to remember which scene from the movie he was in. Surely, his memory would grant him some kind of clue that might save him.

That was right about when he noticed that he was going uphill. He chose to take that as a good sign. Then he encountered stairs, and immediately he put the details together. He knew where he was, and how he was supposed to save himself.

Then he thought of something else; he could likely end up facing King Cypress by himself. He was scared, in the movie, it was not his character that actually faced King Cypress, and his character could not possibly hope to combat a foe that had dark magical powers most couldn't comprehend. Then, he thought of his sisters. Not one of them had the knowledge necessary to really take on King Cypress. They had only really seen _King of the Rings_ once before. None of them would know what to do. Could this perhaps be his destiny? Was it to save his sisters, even if it meant his end?

Lincoln took a deep breath and climbed the stairs, the starlight still shimmering in his hand. He still had his blade ready, if he was to fall, he was going to do it like a man. He came to the top of the stairs, not having many other options he walked forward. Then he heard some kind of scuttling. His heart skipped a beat as he tried to find the source. Out of the darkness emerged a spider! He knew this spider's weakness; he licked his lips and rushed forward. The spider's maw opened wide, fangs glistening but Lincoln stabbed the hideous creature right through one of its eyes!

The spider stirred for a moment, wriggling its life away before finally keeling down. Lincoln removed his blade from that hideous head, and then wiped it on the creature's hairy back.

"Never try to jump attack someone with a drawn sword," he said.

"Lincoln! Is that you?" a voice called out. Lincoln suddenly felt as though someone had just slapped him across the face. He looked toward the source of the voice. He saw some kind of light; he waited a few seconds before he saw Lola and Lynn's outlines in the light before he rushed over. Seeing two of his sisters still alive he started crying tears of joy. Lynn and Lola grinned seeing their brother, and out of character for Lynn they joined in a big group hug.

"We just faced off a dozen spiders! One of them took off, and not sure what else to do we tried to follow it to see if it would lead us out and here you are!" Lynn said.

"Don't worry, I finished off that spider. Now follow me, I believe I can lead us out!" Lincoln replied with a smile. Now that they had been reunited, they felt their spirits lifted significantly as they tried to figure out a solution. Lincoln asked Lola and Lynn for the exact details of what happened to them. They described their encounters with the spiders and the direction they had come from.

"Excellent, well, think you can lead me back to where you first encountered the spiders? See in order to get out of here, we're going to have to walk the direction they came from," he told them.

"But won't we meet the queen?" asked Lola nervously.

"Oh no, those spiders were servants of King Cypress, once we finish him off, this quest will finally be over," answered Lincoln. They walked forward; Lincoln could see the carcasses of the spiders Lynn and Lola had taken on.

"Girls, I just want to say I'm proud of you," Lincoln told them with a smile.

"Heh, those spiders were no match for us," Lynn answered with a bit of a cocky flair in her voice.

"Yeah, but they were so icky!" said Lola, still trying very hard not to bump into their lifeless bodies. Once they passed the spider carcasses they came to a doorway, they entered it, finding they were now in yet another dark hallway, but at least this one had torches adorning the walls. Even though those torches appeared to have been formed from taxidermy arms.

"I think I'm going to puke," said Lola, looking at the horrifying torches. Then they heard the pounding of feet at one end. They looked toward it, standing ready for battle. They walked toward the noise, noting that there was a corner that they could hide behind, to catch their unknown opponents off guard. They positioned themselves carefully, they heard the pounding of feet getting louder and louder. Then, timing themselves as best they could, they jumped out and essentially jumped right into Luan, Lucy and Lisa!

"If you're going to kill us, at least make our deaths swift," Lucy retorted.

"Uh Luce, that's not funny and I should know," Luan scolded her gothic sister. Embarrassed, Lynn, Lincoln and Lola helped their siblings up.

"Hey guess what? We found the final ring!" Luan remembered, showing off the piece of jewelry that hung from her neck.

"And Lucy killed a member of the undead," Lisa added.

"You all performed brilliantly, now we have to find Lori, Leni, Luna and Lana and get the heck out of here. After we've killed King Cypress. How? I honestly can't say," Lincoln said, nodding in approval at Luan.

"These torches are just my style," said Lucy, as she went over to actually touch one.

"Uh Lucy, I wouldn't recommend doing that!" Lynn warned, but it was too late. She put her hand on the torch, activating what was most likely a hidden spring because the floor beneath them moved and they found themselves on the other side of the wall. Once again, they were encompassed in pitch-blackness so Lincoln drew his light out. They walked forward and saw another light shining away from them. Lincoln hid his light away as he found himself suddenly being embraced by some kind of fabric.

"Keep your mouth shut!" Luann hissed. Lincoln realized what was going on. Lucy and Lynn were hiding Lisa and Lola beneath their cloaks. Luan could do nothing more than hide herself and him beneath her cloak and then duck close to the wall. Looking up, they saw an ogre a few yards pass by carrying a torch. It was too dimwitted to really look around.

"We must follow the creature, it is our only chance!" Lincoln ordered. He and his present sisters quietly got out of hiding and followed their adversary. They watched him as he actually talked to an army of rats!

"You let them escape you pathetic imbeciles! I should go ahead and eat you all!" the ogre roared at them.

"Hey there's someone over there!" one of the rats shouted. The ogre turned around and saw that Lola had not quite hidden herself all too well.

"Oops," she said embarrassed.

"Well, get them!" the ogre shouted. The rats ran right up to the siblings, their weapons drawn and ready.

"Looks like we've got ourselves a traffic jam!" Luan shouted as she popped the ends of her staff free. She twirled her staff right in front of her as she ran to meet the rat army, actually putting a good number of them out of commission. Then she approached the ogre, still twirling her staff. Horrified, the ogre ran to a platform with a chain right in the middle of it, which he pulled on. The siblings quickly realized he was essentially on a giant dumbwaiter!

"You're not leaving us behind!" shouted Lynn as she ran to face yet another opponent. Thanks to years of free running, she managed to jump onto Luan's shoulders, flip off and land right onto the platform. Using the dull part of one axe, she hit the ogre upside the head knocking him unconscious! The platform tumbled down. She rolled the ogre off and looked up at her siblings.

"I don't envy the headache he's going to wake up with but come on, we gotta get outta here!" she shouted. Her siblings joined her on the platform. Lucy, Lincoln, Lynn and Luan all gathered around the chain and started pulling on it. Luan having made sure that Lisa and Lola could hold her staff, as it would have been too big and awkward for just one of the smaller Loud's to hold it by herself.

They came to an opening where they could see daylight, and filed out. Luan taking her staff back. They found themselves in some great hall.

"Is dinner being served? Because right now I'm starving!" Luan joked.

"How can you think of food right now?" asked an irritated Lisa. It was right then a heavy door opened. Lori, Leni, Luna and Lana all came through!

"Guys!" everyone shouted when they noticed that they had just been reunited. They rushed over to greet each other. Luan revealed that they had found the third and final ring of power. Then they heard a very familiar laugh.

"You have done well travelers! Perhaps I underestimated you! No matter, you shall not leave this castle alive!" A bolt of lightning hit the fireplace and out of the fire emerged a figure with a hideous canine-like head wearing robes of deep purple and gold.

"Ladies, I give you King Cypress," said Lincoln.


	6. The Final Battle

King Cypress looked upon the Loud siblings with dark red eyes. They stood there looking back at him, not really sure what to do. Only Lincoln knew and understood what truly happened in the movie, and he did not dare reveal that to his sisters, because information like that could easily affect any decision they made.

"You have battled many foes to get here. You have outsmarted some of my most powerful and dangerous pawns. You have even survived my booby traps. Well, the party is officially over. Now you must deal with me!" Cypress announced.

"We will fight to the last woman!" Lynn shouted back, never backing down. That's right about when Lori stepped very hard on her foot.

"LYNN! Don't you dare use that term!" she shouted at her younger sibling.

"Yeah, what if the last one of standing is Lincoln?" asked Leni.

"NOT HELPING LENI!" Lori shouted. But Lincoln simply stood still. He looked at King Cypress. He knew the creature's weakness. Perhaps he could defeat him with that knowledge. At the very least, he could give his sisters a chance to escape. The leaders of the rebels would be able to tell them what to do with the three rings. He stepped out in front of his sisters, holding a hand up to them as he walked slowly forward to his foe.

"So, this is the one who challenges me? A Halfling? You must be either really desperate, or total fools!" laughed Cypress.

" _Ash nazg durbatuluk, ash nazg gimbatul. Ash nazg durbatuluk, ash nazg gimbatul,_ " he chanted. He kept repeating the phrase, with his sword drawn; eyes focused straight ahead. Cypress' eyes grew wide; he was clearly afraid of the words spoken by the Halfling. Lincoln approached him, but with amazing agility, Cypress jumped away and onto a table.

"Fool! I know those words all to well! You honestly think that if I didn't study how to counteract them I'd still be alive?" Cypress asked. With a great puff of smoke he turned into a dragon!

"I was really hoping to avoid this," Lincoln stated. The dragon growled ever most hideously and spat a fireball at him. Lincoln ran toward his sisters, and then they all ran right through the door that Lori, Leni, Luna and Lana had all just entered from, all of them working together to shut the door quickly.

"There's no way that'll hold," Lisa pointed out. She was right; a great dragon claw was already tearing through it like cardboard.

"We really need to come up with a plan," agreed Lynn.

"I have a plan! It's called escaping!" Lori shouted as she ran by with a mace that she had just picked up from one of the suits of armor nearby. She threw it through a window shattering it open.

"Uh Lori, we don't have the rope anymore and Lana can't exactly fly us out one at a time!" Lincoln yelled. The dragon poked its head through the hole it had just made. Smoke issuing from its nostrils. Lola looked through the now broken window.

"Don't worry about it, it's about a foot drop onto an outside wall!" she shouted, almost relieved. She jumped out, the rest of her siblings following. They were relieved beyond words to find that Lola had been quite right and they were now standing outside on a parapet, overlooking the battle that was still going on.

A few archers saw them, but Lana turned into a ram and charged right at them, never thinking about twice about it. She knocked them right off, hundreds of feet down. That's when the dragon busted out of the castle, breaking a good chunk of the windowed wall.

"Dudes, this is about to get really warm!" shouted Luna. The dragon roared and issued from its gaping mouth a torrent of fire. The Loud siblings ran in an attempt to avoid being barbecued, running down a group of stairs to get out of range. Once the fire had subsided, Lola turned around and issued from her scepter a great snow blizzard that the dragon swallowed, then immediately appeared as though he had a brain freeze.

"That's what I call a wizard blizzard!" commented Luan.

"Thought it might give us some time to get away!" Lola responded as she picked up her pace. Once on the ground, the Loud's found they were now facing King Cypress' army. Troopers were closing in on them. Looking around they quickly found a door, and they took it. It turned out to lead to an armory. They slammed the door right behind them. Lynn, Leni and Lana (who quickly turned into a gorilla) pushed as much weight against it as their combined bodies allowed in order to keep it closed.

"There's no way we're going to hold them off for long!" Lynn shouted. It was true, their enemies were banging on the door heavily, sooner or later it was going to break down, it would be easy to guess sooner.

"Lincoln! Whatever it is these heroes do now is not the time to be holding back!" Lori shouted.

"All right, but it's going to have to be me," he replied. His sisters looked at him confused.

"First off, I'm going to need the rings, and Lisa, look through your knapsack, you should find a vial wrapped up in leather with a skull on it," he continued. Granted his sisters weren't entirely sure what he was planning but they obeyed his orders. Luan, Lucy and Lisa quickly surrendered their rings to him. Lisa didn't have to look long in order to find the vial that he described.

"Alright, what's this?" she asked. Lincoln forced the rings onto his fingers and gently took the vial from Lisa. He unwrapped the leather wrapping from it. The liquid inside was black, yet inside the liquid appeared to be some white vapors that were floating within.

"What kind of soda pop is that?" asked Luan.

"This potion will allow the drinker's soul to temporarily leave the body, while somebody recites the incantation written on this strip of leather. My plan is that with the rings of power and while somebody is reciting that spell I tried to use earlier, we might just have a chance to finally destroy King Cypress," Lincoln answered, he looked nervous.

"Is this possibly dangerous?" asked Lori.

"Guys! Now's not exactly the time to debate! We gotta do something quick!" shouted Lynn. The door was beginning to splinter.

"But Lincoln, you're the only one of us who knows that spell. What are we supposed to do?" asked Lola. Here, Lincoln pulled out the scroll that he had been holding onto.

"I kept the written form of the spell, all we have to do is figure out who will be able to say it loud enough for Cypress to hear over all that noise outside," he said.

"Luna, you have the loudest voice," suggested Luan. Everybody nodded in agreement as Luna took the scroll from her brother.

"Now, who shall read this incantation? I will be unconscious after I drink this potion so someone must stand over me to recite it in order for my spiritual self to do battle against King Cypress," Lincoln continued.

"That will be me. I just have one question: Why exactly do you have to do this exercise outside of your body?" Lucy asked as she took the scrap of leather from Lincoln.

"It is significantly far more difficult for King Cypress to harm my soul than for him to harm my body," Lincoln answered. He uncorked the bottle, releasing an odor that reminded everyone of Lynn's athletic socks when she came home from a game. He was just about to drink it when Lori held up her hand.

"Wait! Before you drink that. I have instructions for everyone. Leni, Lola, Lisa, you must stay here and protect Lincoln's body along with Lucy. The rest of you will be coming with me and Luna to fight off the hordes and make our way back to that dragon!"

"Great, now can we get on with it!" shouted Lynn; the door wasn't going to be holding out for much longer. Lincoln quickly gulped down the liquid, he stood still for a few seconds before collapsing, and his eyes started blinking violently.

"Luna, drink this, but don't talk," Lisa instructed her older sister as she handed Luna a small flask from her backpack. Luna looked at it uneasily.

"Don't worry, it'll jusht make your voice louder. Out there you'll need it," Lisa told her reassuringly. That's when Lincoln's eyes completely closed. Lucy stood right beside him. Her right hand stretched out above him, her left one holding the leather scrap she began the incantation.

 _A soul of fire_

 _A soul of water_

 _A soul of earth_

 _A soul of air_

 _Bring forth thee who can travel_

 _Beyond the reaches of the body_

 _Into parts only the bravest tread_

Some form of vapor emitted from Lincoln's mouth. Very quickly, it formed into what the sisters would later best describe as a spectral image of their brother. Yet the three rings he wore still glinted gold in the spectral form. Lincoln's spectra said nothing, but did point to the door that was less than a minute from coming down. Arms were reaching in, and it was all Lana, Lynn and Leni could do to slap them.

"Attack!" yelled Lori. The three sisters who were holding the door shut ran away from it. For a moment, the door came down and a few goblins made it in, only to be attacked by Lynn and Luan. They were the first two out, followed by Lori and Lana who turned into a rhino once again. Finally, Luna came out holding a mace followed by Lincoln's spectra.

Suddenly, the four Night Riders that they had previously fought nearly two days ago appeared, clearly cured of their burns. Lincoln's spectra smiled and poised as if to dive, it went right through all four of them. Leaving them dazed. Luan and Lana made short work of them, just knocking them off balance so they wouldn't interfere.

"Looks like you guys aren't so scary now!" Luan laughed.

King Cypress was still in his dragon form. He looked at the five sisters coming at him, and he even saw Lincoln's spectra. He laughed, a great boisterous laugh that could only be compared to an orchestra comprised solely of percussion. The sisters kept charging at him, Luna drank some of the potion that Lisa gave her. Her sisters gave her some room to face Cypress dead on, and then she held the mace she was holding like a microphone.

" _ASH NAZG DURBATULUK, ASH NAZG GIMBATUL! ASH NAZG DURBATULUK, ASH NAZG GIMBATUL!_ " she shouted, reading off the parchment Lincoln had given her. The dragon roared, and even some of the troops around it seemed terrified. Then Lincoln's spectra floated right up to it, withdrawing its sword. It plunged its sword right into the belly of the creature. Then, spinning around constantly, it cut its legs, stabbed the creature's tail. The dragon slowly reverted back to its normal form. Cypress exhibited clear signs that he was wounded, but still seemed willing to fight.

"I shall emerge victorious! I shall take back those rings, including the one you stole from me!" he shouted. Lincoln's spectral\ pointed at Lori and then to Cypress, then made a motion with his finger against his throat. Lori nodded; she notched an arrow and fired it directly at Cypress' chest.

"Well, cough, cough I was wrong, that'll do it," Cypress gasped before finally collapsing, his dark eyes closing for good. With their leader gone, Cypress' forces fled. The Night Riders who were trying to get up emitted an ear splitting scream and seemingly crumbled, leaving only their robes and swords behind. The cowards never looked back, even outside the castle walls, those that had been fighting the rebel army ran off. The rebels cheered in victory.

Lincoln's spectra looked upon his sisters, smiling, and then vanished. They stood rooted to the spot, not sure what they were supposed to do in this situation. Then, as if it slapped them right in the face, they realized what they were supposed to do! They had to check in on those they had left in the armory! They ran back, hoping and praying that they were all right.

Entering the armory once more, they were relieved to find Lisa, Lola, Lucy and Leni still standing around Lincoln's body that was just beginning to stir.

"Lola here set up a shield of energy, allowing ush to be shafe," explained Lisa. She put a hand on Lola's shoulder, pride beaming in her eyes.

"I just thought about what we needed and there it was!" Lola said excitedly. Lincoln groaned and sat up, Leni who was kneeling right beside him gently held him.

"You feeling _spirited_? C'mon don't _dragon_ the details!" Luan laughed. The rest of the sisters rolled their eyes. Lincoln was still feeling dazed, but he shook his head and took a deep breath before he began talking.

"Girls, you have all performed brilliantly. Lori, I will admit that in the movie it was actually your character that had that out of body experience, but considering the fact that I didn't think you wouldn't know what to do I chose to do it," Lincoln replied before taking off the rings and handing them back to the ones who had been designated carriers.

"There's just one thing I still don't get, what was so special about these rings?" asked Lori.

"Depending on which one is being worn on the finger, they enhance the wearer's speed, agility, or strength. That's why I wanted to be sure I was wearing all three of them when I faced King Cypress," Lincoln replied, as he started to get up, holding onto Leni for support.

"Luna, you've been quiet," Leni finally quipped. Luna pointed at Lisa and then made a motion to suggest she was drinking something.

"Oh, fear not shishter, I have jusht the thing," Lisa replied. Reaching yet again into her backpack of surprises she pulled out some elven way bread. She told Luna to eat it and then try speaking again. Luna carefully ate the bread, and then took a deep breath through her nose.

"Dudes, that was a rockin' show we just put on back there!" she said. She looked exceedingly relieved that her voice was no longer earsplitting.

"What was it like being a ghost, or at least like one?" Lucy asked Lincoln.

"It was kind of strange. I felt weightless, I couldn't speak, yet I felt as though I had so much freedom being able to float through the air," Lincoln replied. That's right about when they heard the clomping of hoofs. They joined the rebels in the courtyard, where they were greeted with cheers of triumph.

"Victory! We have victory!" shouted an armored individual they quickly recognized as Markus.

"King Cypress is dead as a doornail!" shouted Luan. The rebel forces wasted no time in throwing torches amongst the dead bodies that lay strewn about the ground, including the body of King Cypress.

"Excellent, another mass cremation," commented Lucy. They left the walls of the castle and watched from a distance as the flames engulfed the great building.

"We are the champions, my friends!" Luna declared.


	7. Homeward Bound

Markus was crowned the new King. He swore that he would lead his people with wisdom and kindness. Nobles from the various corners and races of the land attended his ceremony. Even Lord Caerborn and Lady Flouriel attended along with Griffond and his dignitaries, who brought Lily with them, dressed in silk. Her siblings were thrilled beyond belief to see her again.

"Your little one is a bit of a troublemaker. She had five nursemaids running around like lunatics, and she snuck into our kitchens more than once," Griffond told them.

"I'm honestly surprised she kept these clothes your nursemaids gave her on for so long," Lincoln replied.

"Uh yes, she may have run around nude a few times as well," answered one of the accompanying nursemaids. Before commenting on how much Lily seemed to prefer silk over all other clothing she was offered.

"Well, it almost feels like nothing. Look Lilster, I can see again!" said Luan as she held the baby. Lily clapped and giggled as she usually did.

"So Lincoln, what exactly happens now?" asked Lori. Before answering, Lincoln asked for the rings of power that Lucy, Lisa and Luan carried They surrendered them without question, and Lincoln presented them to Griffond, Caerborn and Lady Flouriel.

"I believe you will know what to do with these," he told them.

"You certainly have made something of yourself Halfling Lincoln, you took on a great responsibility to help your companions through thick and thin," replied Caerborn. Lincoln smiled and nodded before then turning to his sisters. Here he dropped his voice down to a whisper.

"Honestly, I don't know what's going to happen, this is where the movie ends," he replied. Suddenly, a strange light seemed to emit from Lucy's backpack. She quickly fished through it and pulled out the dream catcher that had started this whole mess. But the most unusual thing of all was that only the siblings really seemed to notice it. Everyone else seemed occupied with what one could argue the script for the movie had detailed.

"Somebody please explain what's going on, because I'm pretty sure dream catchers don't glow," said Leni. Then, they were engulfed in light for a second, and then they found themselves back in their house, wearing their normal clothes. Except for Lily who for reasons nobody could explain afterwards was still wearing the silk outfit that the elves had given her. Luna also had a souvenir, in place of one of her traditional paperclip earrings; one of her ears still had that dragon tooth earring attached to it. The credits for the film were now beginning to roll.

They saw drawn images of the characters, as they normally would have appeared. Next to each image was the name of the actor who played them. A gentle song played in the background.

"What just happened?" asked Lori.

"We played by the rules, our reward is that we got to go home," answered Lucy.

"How do Lily and I still have something from that world?" asked Luna, pointing at her new earring.

"I really don't know," answered Lucy.

"Look at the bright side, you can wear that to a concert, it'll look pretty cool," suggested Lincoln. Everyone nodded in agreement.

"I just hope that it won't affect the next time I watch this movie, but now having lived through it with you guys, I may never see it the same way again," he continued; Everyone laughed.


End file.
